About

Appalachian State University’s Bachelor of Science degree in Career and Technical Education prepares students to teach about technology, business, child development, design and engineering. This degree program uses an investigative, hands-on research and design approach to help students better understand the world around them.

Appalachian State University is widely recognized as providing top-quality teachers for the public schools. Graduates of our program are in extremely high demand, both here in North Carolina and across the nation. Career and Technical Education teachers get to teach a subject they love while providing an invaluable service to students and schools.

This degree has five concentrations, each of which is considered a high need field. Many school districts seek teachers who are specialists in these areas.

Business, Finance and Information Technology Education

Business, Marketing and Entrepreneurship Education

Family and Consumer Sciences

Technology, Engineering and Design Education

Trade and Industrial Education

The Business and Marketing Entrepreneurship Education (BMEE) concentration focuses on the preparation of business and marketing teachers in grades 6-12. BMEE instructors teach a variety of courses in these grades from marketing and project management to personal finance and hospitality and tourism. You will learn how to teach young people about marketing communications, marketing management, marketing research, merchandising and professional sales. You also will develop the skills necessary to teach students about selling, promotion, pricing, marketing-information management, market planning, product/service management and channel management.

Transfer students or students who have completed Community College courses related to a specific skill area should contact the program director to determine if these courses can count toward a program of study at Appalachian.

After Graduation

Employment: Our students are typically hired throughout North Carolina as well as in surrounding states such as South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee to teach middle or high school courses as well as community college. Examples include Hospitality Marketing, Sustainable Tourism, Entrepreneurship, Fashion Merchandising, Principles of Business and Finance, and Sports and Entertainment Marketing. A complete list of all BMEE courses in North Carolina is located on the N.C. Department of Public Instruction’s website.

Because of the extensive training in business subjects, individuals who choose not to teach after graduation have found lucrative and successful careers in all types of business and marketing fields.

Professional Licensure

This is a program that leads to licensure or certification. Appalachian State University cannot confirm whether this program will meet the requirements for professional licensure in other states or territories.

Global Learning

Appalachian is committed to introducing students to different cultures and teaching them how to live and interact in a global society. Opportunities for education majors include international student teaching.

Why Appalachian?

This program has a long-standing commitment to excellence in CTE teacher preparation and is well-respected at the local, state, national and international levels.

Faculty and students are actively in involved professional and student organizations related to Career and Technical Education. Students have the opportunity to compete in regional, state and national TEECA, TSA and VEX competitions through the student organization ASU TECA.

This is a small, personal program in which teacher candidates take courses and participate in field experiences together for four semesters. All students are known well by each other and by the CTE faculty.

The Department of Curriculum and Instruction offers a broad range of comprehensive degree programs at the baccalaureate and master’s level. The department seeks to provide quality programs that emphasize an integration of academics and field experiences.

Approximately 2,400 students

The Reich College of Education enrolls approximately 2,400 students in its bachelor’s, master’s, education specialist and doctoral degree programs. It houses five departments: Curriculum and Instruction, Family and Child Studies, Human Development and Psychological Counseling, Leadership and Educational Studies, and Reading Education and Special Education.

Teacher preparation

Appalachian has been training quality educators for more than 100 years and is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).

Appalachian offers the largest undergraduate teacher preparation program in North Carolina, graduating about 500 teachers a year. There is at least one RCOE graduate working in every county in North Carolina.

The Reich College of Education is recognized consistently in the annual Institution of Higher Education Performance Report by the State Board of Education.

Close ties to public schools

The Appalachian State University Public School Partnership – which includes 125 schools in nine surrounding districts – provides sites for student teachers and interns as well as professional development opportunities for teachers.

The Appalachian State University Academy at Middle Fork, located in Walkertown, North Carolina, serves over 300 K-5 students. The Academy provides a balanced education through the implementation of research-based practices, state-of-the-art literacy instruction, and exemplary classroom instruction and administration.

Graduate programs

The School of Graduate Studies’ Accelerated Admission program, in which select undergraduate students can fulfill both undergraduate and graduate course requirements in their senior year toward the completion of a graduate degree program, is offered in: higher education, reading education and special education.